DRI = Davenport, Rock Island & North Western
Another study of the colorization of postcards.
Jan Danielsen posted two photos with the comment: "Prairie Dawn SB Pool 16. Pictures taken from Credit Island Davenport, Iowa."
It looks like the river is getting close to touching the bottom girders.
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| Retro Quad Cities posted Rock Island Crescent bridge over the Mississippi |
Note in the satellite image that the southern three spans are in an arc because the tracks run close to the riverfront.
Bridge was built by the Rock Island Bridge And Terminal Company. The Davenport, Rock Island, and Northwestern Railroad took control of the bridge in 1901, where it was jointly owned by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy and the Milwaukee Road. In 1995, Canadian Pacific (the former Soo Line) took over the Milwaukee Road, taking the Iowa side track. The Burlington Northern ended up with the bridge and the Illinois track, which became the BNSF when the BN merged with the Santa Fe Railroad. (John A. Weeks III)Update:
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| Randy Wymore posted The frozen Mississippi looking east into Davenport. 1-28-26 |
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| William Brown posted The former DRI&NW/BN now BNSF Crescent Bridge between Rock Island, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa Bridge yesterday. From the Mississippi River Facebook page. |
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| William Brown posted
DRI&NW Crescent Bridge from Retro Quad Cities:
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| Fans of Rock Island Lines posted Another of the Cresent Bridge, used by the Dri line and its chief stockholders, Milwaukee and Burlington. Believe this is the Iowa side looking back towards Rock island. The other side the first structure is bent by design, meaning the eagle bar it sit on is not square but higher on the right side compared to the left giving it a twisted appearance. I posted the RI side just a day or two ago for comparison. [It was the above photo posted by William.] Joseph Obrien shared |
Another study of the colorization of postcards.
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| Quad Cities Buildings / Landmarks /History posted The Crescent Bridge over the Mississippi River. Date Original ca. 1913 Repository Rock Island Public Library, 401 19th Street, Rock Island, Ill. 61201 |
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| Davenport Iowa History posted The Crescent Railroad Bridge Under Construction - Circa February-March 1898 Here's a photo taken facing Davenport and showing the construction of the railroad bridge over the Mississippi River known as the "Crescent Bridge," not far from Credit Island. It was the fourth bridge to be erected between Davenport and the Rock Island shores of the Mississippi - the first being the original railroad bridge, the second being the first Government bridge, and the third, the "new" Government bridge currently in use. The Crescent bridge was originally built for the Davenport, Clinton & Eastern Railway. Construction began in the early summer of 1897. Much of the work and progress was initially done on the Illinois side of the river. By mid-December of 1897 workers began working on the approach from the Iowa side. The Edwards and Walsh Construction Company placed a gang of men at work on the Iowa shore on December 10, 1897 and about December 20th a full force of men were busily engaged in the project, which purportedly required at least three months to complete. Meanwhile, the work on the sheer booms were going merrily on. By February 1, 1898, the trestle work had been built far out into the river and switch tracks were extended for the handling of stone. Stonemasons were completing piers 8 and 9 and material was expected within a few days for piers 6 and 7. However, moving ice on February 13, 1898, caused havoc among the derricks and other construction equipment and the coffer dam was wrecked. It was feared the damage caused by the ice would delay the work on the bridge for a month or more. Indeed, the pier work on the bridge had to be suspended until the ice was cleared out of the river, which finally occurred on March 25, 1898. Operations were again under way with Contractor Stone busily putting in the coffer dam for the third pier south of Willow Island. To facilitate the work, the well-known little dredge boat, "Lone Star," was called upon with her "flats" and Capt. Schricker was engaged in pumping sand for the nine-foot filling. The water at that point was nine and a half feet deep, and as there was no dirt on the rock bed of the river at that point, the masonry work could be commenced as soon as the coffer dam was placed and the water pumped out. The second pier from Willow Island had not yet been completed. The river proper at the site of the bridge is about 2,200 feet wide. The draw span is located 600 feet from the Rock Island shore. The total length of the bridge proper is 2,307 feet and weighs 3,000 tons. Beginning at the Rock Island or southern end of the bridge, there are three spans of 200 feet each, laid on the curve that constitutes the Illinois half of the Crescent. Then comes the draw span, 442 feet in length covering three piers. after that is the long span (pictured in this photo) of 365 feet, then three of 300 feet each, which carries the structure to the shore of Willow Island. At the Iowa end there was also a 56-foot approach girder, as the bridge strikes the island and after that was 380 feet of trestle, white oak piling, well secured, crossing the island. The slough is crossed by seven deck plate girder spans of 72 feet each, or 504 feet in all. After that came more pile trestle on the Davenport mainland, 630 feet of it, before sold Iowa soil at grade was reached. The aggregate length of the bridge construction is 4,155 feet. The drum of the span turning mechanism is 27 feet 8 inches in diameter and is set in motion using two 30-horsepower electric motors with a speed of nearly 700 revolutions per minute. Two 5-horsepower motors are also used at the ends of the draw for working the lateral and vertical adjustments after the draw has been swung. The bridge was built by the Phoenix Iron Bridge Company, which also erected the Government bridge. The first train passed over the bridge on April 21, 1899. It was a work train, composed of six cars laden with stone. It left the foot of Harrison street at half past 2 o'clock, and pulled across to Rock Island without much delay. The train was pulled by Milwaukee engine No. 1213, under the control of engineer Dan McCormac, fireman Tom Quinn, and switchmen George Austin, Jr. and Ferd. Perry. The members of the party of local men who had the honor of accompanying the first train included H. B. Shuler, president of the Davenport & Rock Island Railroad, Bridge and Terminal Company; Frank P. Blair, vice president; J. W. Crowley, construction foreman; Charles. F. Loweth, chief engineer; J. M. Sherrier, weather observer; S. W. Searle of "The Leader" and Vincent Dorgan of "The Davenport Democrat." The idea to build a railroad bridge at or about the same location was first suggested in 1884 by A. C. Fulton, a dozen years before its time. Glen Thede: In 1900 the bridge became the property of the Davenport, Rock Island, and Northwestern Railway Company. The Dri line (as it was known) operated from Carbon Cliff to the Crescent Bridge, west to Schmidt Road in West Davenport, and North along the Mississippi River to terminal junction in Clinton, Iowa, a total of a little over 46 miles. The railroad operated until 1996. Both brass dedication plaques remain on the first span of the bridge on the Rock Island side of the River. Looking at the bridge from the air the bridge has a crescent shape hence the name. Most quad citizens didn’t know the railroad existed but they moved a lot of freight in the Quad Cities. Paul D. French: I took trains over that bridge many times. The BN wanted to take it down at one time. The local, which could be very long, tried using the Rock Island Bridge. On the Iowa side, there was a track that allowed us to get back down to our track. That track was so short we had to move the train a piece at a time. The local kept going dead. The plan to remove the Crescent Bridge was abandoned. The Crescent Bridge does not have an I-beam in it. It is made of flat steel held tight with turnbuckles. Whenever a train went over the bridge, it made a disconcerting sound as the turnbuckle braces slapped together. |
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| John Vize posted The Crescent Railroad Bridge, between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa, taken from the Rock Haven 09/30/17. |
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| Mike Ironman posted Crescent Bridge Action in Davenport, Iowa / Soo on " The Clinton Curves" in Clinton, Iowa. Bob Heintz Laid rail across that bridge 5 or 6 years ago. |
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| William Brown shared The Crescent Bridge between Davenport Iowa and Rock Island Illinois owned by the Davenport Rock Island and Northwestern, Milwaukee Road, Soo Line, BN and BNSF. Curved approaches on each end, not 286K and still manually operated. Over 120 years of service. |
Jan Danielsen posted three photos with the comment: "Davenport, Iowa Pool 16 looking up river from Credit Island. Crescent railroad bridge [this bridge] and Centennial bridge. Very windy cloudy day. 10-17-20."
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| Jan Danielsen posted Andrew Cannava Northbound heading to lock 15 Rock Island, Illinois. Going past Crescent Railroad bridge and Centennial Bridge. Pictures taken from Davenport, Iowa. River pool 16. |
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| Mike Ironman posted [Note the outline of a hydraulic jump in the ice breaker part of the pier from when the river level was higher.] |
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| Mike Ironman posted |
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| Screenshot @ -3:21 on April 6, 2019 [Flood of 2019] |
Robert Daly posted four photos with the comment: "Canadian Pacific bridge (originally Davenport Rock Island and Northwestern) between Rock Island and Davenport, April 14 2013."
Andrew Elges: Crescent Bridge Owned by BNSF, though CP has trackage rights.
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Jan Danielsen posted two photos with the comment: "Prairie Dawn SB Pool 16. Pictures taken from Credit Island Davenport, Iowa."
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Jan Danielsen posted two photos with the comment: "Ardyce Randall Pool 16 SB. Pictures taken from Credit Island Davenport, Iowa."
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| Screenshot @ 0:40 Muscatine Bridge Night, Lock 16, Crecent RR Bridge Kelly Mason Pilot for Southern Towing M/V Capt. Richard Sides |
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| Jan Danielsen posted Capt. York after assisting Cooperative Venture at Lock 15 Rock Island, Illinois. Pictures taken from Davenport, Iowa Pool 16. Centennial bridge and Crescent Railroad swing bridge. |
It looks like the river is getting close to touching the bottom girders.
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| Retro Quad Cities posted An aerial view of the 1965 flood in the Quad Cities. Note how much water was in Rock Island then, but not now. Tom McNair: This view might be earlier than 1965. West River Drive in Davenport opened in 1959. It doesn’t look like the US61 overpass over the railroad near Concord Street has been built yet. In any case, it’s a great view, thanks for sharing! |
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| Digitally Zoomed |
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| Retro Quad Cities posted Now THAT'S an ice jam! A massive ice jam along the Illinois shore at the Crescent Bridge in 1904. Tom Sharp: The Dispatch mentions an ice gorge in 1904. They used dynamite to break it up. Link did not work for me Kyle A Fatmans Journey: Climate change doesn't exist, right? Gary Kespohl: Kyle A Fatmans Journey well not so much as the Nuke plant releasing hot water into the river. It hasn’t froze solid since the mid 70s. |
This photo is at Lock & Dam #15, but I put it here because it is about inspecting this bridge after the Spring 2023 flood. That flood closed most of the locks on the Upper Mississippi River for several days.
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| Joel Wise posted At LD15, the Aubrey Harwell Jr. is patiently waiting for the Crescent bridge to be back in service so that they can head downriver Kent Holmgrain: The rivers officially open I take ? Joel Wise: Kent Holmgrain I think LD16 and 17 are planning on opening tomorrow, but everything else is open. Crescent Bridge is getting their center pivot assembly inspected as it was under water for several days, I think that’s what this boat is waiting on. |
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| David Webster posted [This bridge is in the foreground and the Centennial Bridge is in the background. Is there a current strong enough to pull the front of this tow to the left to fit in the navigation span or is he parking it here for a while?] |
